A year had passed after Obito's death and a LOT had changed. Kishi Inuzuka, Might Gai, Tokuma Hyuga and Hayate were promoted to Jonin after the war. The war wasn't entirely over but there was a ongoing talk about the peace treaty and all.

Kishi's team was dissolved as Ibiki and their sensei, Yamanaka Inoichi, were transferred to Intelligence department of Konoha. That left Tokuma and Kishi along with her hounds. They did go on a few missions together but later Sandaime had offered her a choice, resentfully. Either she should join Anbu or she and Tokuma would be assigned to a new team. The third had advised her to reject the Anbu offer but Kishi being herself had gladly accepted the offer. Afterall, she didn't want to lose against Ibiki, who was joining intell department and Tokuma, whose Byakugan improved vastly. She didn't want to be the only one to be left behind.

Her hounds had grown too. They reached till Kishi's waist already and were still young, making her wonder how big are they going to be until they are adults. Kishi was often assigned to reinforcement unit because of her tracking skills. So she took only one of the three hounds with her on Anbu missions because it would be too many people on single team if she took all three. She would take Adzuki on mission where she needed to kill, he was fierce and lethal; whereas Pochi on infiltration missions because she wasn't as loud as other 2 and was very efficient. Momo was her companion on backup unit as he was a perfect for tracking missions.

She was rather glad that she wasn't assigned a permanent team yet, she wasn't a social person anyway. She and her hounds together were far better than any other teammate. She had been on a few assassination missions with other teams and it wasn't as bad as she had thought, but she didn't make any efforts to befriend any one yet.

These missions were better than being in a war, she often thought. In war she had killed innocent ninja who were merely performing their duty of protecting their village and loved ones and she had grieved for each of her victims. But the shinobis she had killed after joining ANBU were dangerous, alone and selfish to the extent that they were a threat to humanity itself.

At this moment, Kishi was along with her backup and rescue unit. They were to reach the border of Kirigakure to check on the situation of the kidnapped Konoha chunin, Rin Nohara. Sandaime had already sent Kakashi Hatake to rescue her immediately after receiving the news of her kidnap. Hokage then had summoned them to give details as to how long to wait and when to enter the hidden village and her team started soon after that.

They were already half way to their destination and Kishi was becoming more restless with each passing moment. Rin was a medic, she wasn't a front line ninja and her kidnapping made no sense whatsoever. And above all she was a close friend to Kishi.

After Obito's death, Rin had often come to Kishi to talk about her nightmares and her feelings for Obito. Kishi knew very well that Rin had loved Obito dearly, and his death had taken a toll on her. Eventually, Rin told Kishi that she had tried to talk about these things to others as well but she couldn't let it out. That just led to a strong friendship between the two girls.

~~FLASHBACK~~

"I feel like I can tell you anything, without worrying... I don't want to burden you with my worries Kishi, I know you don't like anyone one to interfere with you but you just make me feel better" Rin had told her.

Rin had seen her at training grounds and cried her eyes out when they reached her house. It was third time in the week.

"I am glad I am able to help, Rin... that's what friends are for….", Kishi had said the last words surprising herself as well as Rin. Rin had smiled brightly at that and hugged her.

~~END~~

After that, the 2 girls had become close somehow. Rin would help her bathe her hounds and also taught her a few basic medic jutsus that can come handy during a battle. Kishi had enjoyed her company as well. It felt nice to have someone, other than her pets, to goof around with, to share meals, to spend day-offs with, to train with.

Kishi shooked the memories and tried to focus on the trees they were running though. She had brought Momo as well as Pochi with her today. She was worried sick about Rin. No valid reason justified her abduction. Although Kakashi was headed there early, no one knew how many shinobis would be there, he needed to fight in order to rescue her. No doubt Kakashi was strong, he had developed his own jutsu and even had sharingan, but she was aware that everyone had physical limits and so did he.

Suddenly, Momo let out a soft bark signalling her about the smell. Immediately, she did hand signs to heighten her senses and felt sick. The air had a thick stink of blood, and it was a lot of blood. Kishi notified her captain and followed in the direction of smell.

The reek of blood was getting stronger as they moved forward. Kishi sensed a faint whiff of familiar scent. She knew it too well, but it went away just as quickly. She again intensified her senses, only to identify 2 of the three familiar smells over the stench of blood. The blood was making her dizzy, only slightly.

She notified her captain about her guess of Rin and Kakashi ahead, but third scent was disappearing fast. Her captain nodded and took lead jumping infront of her dogs, only to gasp at the sight.

They had reached a clearing covered with nothing but corpses of Kiri shinobis, brutally murdered, lying in the pool of their own blood. The ripped out organs and body parts made her feel nauseous. Silent gasps were heard as her team landed down.

Kishi could smell Rin and Kakashi a little farther, and started heading forward pushing aside the negative thoughts. A little farther she saw a glint of silver mixed with red and jumped next to it, only to be frozen at the sight.

Kakashi was lying on his stomach, his left hand stretched out. The hand pointed to another body...It was Rin... lying on her back in a big pool of blood….. with a fist sized hole in her chest.

Rin had died...